Focus on Acceptance…

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!  First off, I want to thank You for another lovely weekend with my family and friends.  Date night with my wonderful wife Shannon on Saturday night was a great way to end the week, and although I ended up “under the weather” on Sunday, I was Blessed in that my family made sure I had the quiet time I needed to rest and recuperate.  I certainly wasn’t as productive as I had originally planned on being, but the downtime did help us all to recharge our batteries for the week ahead.

Today Lord, I want to delve further into my Focus Word (Accept) for the year and how it’s already affected my thoughts and actions.  It’s amazing to me, but since You placed that word in my heart I find it jumping into my head quite regularly.  For example, I had a situation this weekend where I was extremely uncomfortable with the way someone was acting in a public situation.  They weren’t doing anything wrong per-se, but it made me feel awkward all the same.

“You need to Accept them for who they are” I heard in the back of my head.

Fair enough.  As I said, they weren’t doing anything wrong and they certainly weren’t hurting me in any way.  I realized I had just taken it upon myself to feel uncomfortable at the way they were behaving, and was letting it affect my disposition.

Therefore, today’s statement of focus from my experience this weekend is :

I need to Accept that God has made each of us an individual who is unique and special.

Now please understand Father, this doesn’t mean I won’t stand up against people doing something morally or ethically wrong, or not confront evil wherever I see it.  I simply need to have more flexibility when dealing with differences in how Your Children act and interact with others.  You’ve made us all wonderfully individual and unique, and I’m going to work on celebrating those differences more.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Thanks on a Monday

Dear Lord; Happy Monday Father!  Well Lord, I just want to thank You for another lovely weekend.  Date night with my lovely wife on Friday was a blast, Saturday we began to reclaim our home from the Christmas decorations, and Sunday was a wonderful lazy day watching the epic 1956 film “The Ten Commandments” with my family.  The house is still in quite a bit of chaos, but all in all it was a wonderful, productive time and I thank You so much for it.

I also want to take a minute to thank You for sending Your healing power to me over the last week.  As You know I ended up at my doctor’s office last Wednesday with serious stomach distress.  I was in a fair amount of pain Lord, and while I still have some discomfort it’s worlds better than it was.  Thank You so much for Blessing me with an excellent Primary Care Physician, and for Your Comfort during this episode.  It’s woken me up to some necessary changes I need to make in my diet, stress level and sleep habits if I want to avoid potentially serious medical issues in the future.  Please help me keep proper focus and have the strength to make the right choices going forward.

And finally Lord, I’ve been hearing quite a bit this month about the idea of having One Word to focus and pray on for the new year, instead of a series of resolutions which usually don’t get followed through on.  The more I’ve thought about the idea, and seen some examples on other devotional blogs the more I like it.  Therefore Father, today I’m starting my prayers for You to help me choose the word that will guide me for the coming year.  I place my heart and mind in Your Hands Lord, and look forward to Your Counsel on my focus.

Heavenly Father, please bring Your Loving Presence to all those in need.  Help us be productive, focused and compassionate servants of Your Will, and guide us to where we can best be used for Your Grand Purpose.  Give Your Comfort and Strength to those who are suffering, and help us all be extensions of Your Love on Earth.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

The Stuff that Dreams are Made of

Dear Lord; Wow Father… What a powerful morning You’ve presented me with.  I’m still not 100% sure what to make of it, but it’s got me excited nonetheless.

Now, I’ve never been a big nighttime “dreamer”.  In fact, I’m a chronic insomniac so when I do finally crash I very seldom remember what runs through my head the next morning.  Last night however, was a completely different experience for me.  Everything was so vivid, so real… When the alarm clock went off (and just FYI, I now realize that alarm clocks are one of Satan’s creations…LOL) I was truly shocked to find out that I had been asleep.  However, although I woke a bit disoriented I had an amazing sense of peace and of hope in my heart that hadn’t been there when I went to bed.  It was a wonderful feeling, but at the same time very confusing.  A little later, I was trying to make sense of it all while showering and You whispered to my heart :

“Expect something wonderful”

I’ve never put much stock in my dreams Father, but I’ve absolutely learned to be open to Your Voice.  This was such a powerful and unexpected experience for me, that I’m still having a hard time putting it into perspective.  Either way, no matter what the “something wonderful” turns out to be, I can’t thank You enough for the joyous feeling You left me with this morning.

On a different note Lord, I just had to share another piece of happiness with You.  Last night, Aidan and I finished reading the Book of Genesis in his new Action Bible.  He was beaming from the accomplishment, and went to bed with a smile on his face.  We also found and bought the DVD of the movie “The Ten Commandments” recently, and are planning to watch it this weekend so it’s a wonderful lead-in to reading the Book of Exodus.  Jonathan’s been reading Genesis as well, and I expect he’ll have it done in the next day or so as well.  Can You tell I’m proud of them Lord?  🙂

And we’re once again coming into a weekend Father.  Shannon and I are getting out for “date night” tonight, with the balance of the weekend being spent getting the Christmas decorations put away and putting our house back to some semblance of normality.  I’ll admit, I’m going to be sorry to see all the wonderful lights and embellishments get put away for another year, but it’s time.

Heavenly Father, I thank You so much for coming to me this morning.  The more I feel Your Presence with me, the more I know peace in my heart and go through the day focused on what truly matters.  Please guide me to better be Your Servant, and to shine Your Light to those around me so that they may know Your Love as I’ve come to.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Back to the Fold

Dear Lord; Well Father, the New Year is certainly upon us.  However, instead of talking about new beginnings today, I want to go over last weekend if I may.  As we’ve discussed at length, 2010 was in many ways an amazingly difficult year for myself and my family.  Well, as of Friday morning I had yet one more potentially serious business nightmare crop up to finish off my year, and I’m afraid I crumbled.  It was the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back, and I spent the bulk of my day sitting quietly in our bedroom, avoiding the world.  I tried for quite some time to speak with You Lord, but I just couldn’t seem to let go of the troubles in my heart and open up that line of communication.  I felt lost, and beaten, and angry, and alone.

I was of course none of those things, but at the time I couldn’t see past my own turmoil to realize it.  Once again, You intervened through others to bring me back.  Shannon and I were to attend a New Years Eve party that night, and although I was holding onto my pain she convinced me to keep our plans all the same.  It ended up being just what was needed to get me out of the self-induced shell I was hiding in.  The evening was spent surrounded by a fun group of friends, and I was able to finally release the hold that fear had placed on my heart.

The rest of the weekend continued on an upwards trend, and by Sunday afternoon I was back to my old self once again.  I was able to start the week today with a positive direction, and a joyous heart knowing that as always, You were there to see me through, even when I wasn’t paying attention.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

Thank You Father, for always being there to guide and help us even when our own frailties make us blind to Your Presence.  Amen.

~Phather Phil

Prayers on a Wintery Monday

Dear Lord; Good morning Father!  Well, we’ve certainly started the week off with a blustery and snowy morning.  Here in middle Delaware at least, the snow came down all day yesterday and into the evening, leaving a cleansing white coating on the ground.  While it’s a travel impediment, I’ve always loved the way snow seems to purify everything and leaves the Earth feeling new, although I’m sure I’ll be a lot less enthralled clearing the driveway later on today when the wind settles down  :-).  Either way, I pray that all those forced to venture out into these conditions will feel You by their side, and get to their destinations safely.

I also wanted to thank You for a lovely Christmas weekend Father.  From the wonderful Children’s Christmas Eve Service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Friday night, to the time spent with my loving family on Christmas Day it was a joyous time and will inspire happy memories for quite some time to come.  We are indeed Blessed, and I thank You from the bottom of my heart.

Searching for inspiration on this wintery Monday morning Lord, I came across a prayer that just hit home with me and therefore I’d like to finish our chat with it.  It’s called “The Prayer of Saint Francis” and reads :

~Phather Phil